It's a regional thing. Definitely a Texas thing, and it may extend further, I dunno. But around here, "coke" is understood to mean "carbonated beverage".

Me: Do you want a coke?Guest: Sure. What kind do you have?Me: Dr. Pepper & Sprite.Guest: Ok, I'll have a Sprite, please.

So actually, around these parts, it has become generic. And it was that way since I was a kid in the 60s so it's been a while. I realize it's not that way all over, and that's why I qualified the term in paretheses upthread.

Why not just say (general) you want a 'sprite' from the outset? When I want a particular soft drink I specify fanta/lemonade/pepsi/coke/ginger ale in the beginning.

Coke in the south is much like Q-tips are across the rest of America. You generally don't write "cotton swabs" on a grocery list you write "q-tips" Because it's become the new generic.

Down south coke is just the generic for soda. And it's a big part of southern culture. I've even heard orange soda referred to as "orange coke" which is kind of delightful.

Again though, the problem arises in that a cotton swab is a cotton swab is a cotton swab. Just to name a few.... Pepsi, Mountain Dew Code Red, ginger ale, root beer, cream soda, Sprite, orange soda, cherry soda, grape soda, and Mello Yello are all so completely different from one another that putting them all under the banner of "coke" would be like using the term "xerox" to mean copy, fax, telephone, intercom, email, text, IM, and VOIP.

You keep arguing against this as if there is some sort of objective rule about how language can be used. Language means what we want it to mean, changes how we decide to change it, and sometimes means wildly different things in different areas. That's just how it works.

Are you insisting this usage of 'coke' is incorrect in the hopes that you'll convince the entire south of the United States that their idiomatic usage of the word is improper and must be abandoned? You're probably not going to be terribly successful....

I'm from Boston. When I was growing up, if you asked for a Coke, you'd get a Coca-Cola. If you asked, "What kind of soda do you have?" you'd be told "Vanilla, chocolate or strawberry," because a "soda" is a drink made with carbonated water, flavored syrup and ice cream. If you wanted to know what your choices in carbonated soft drinks were, you'd ask, "What kind of tonic do you have?"

In other parts of the country, people hear "tonic" and they think "tonic water," which is that quinine-flavored stuff you make a gin and tonic with, or a hair product, or some kind of medicinal concoction. Carbonated soft drinks are soda, or pop, or coke. A college friend from the South explained to me about "coke" as a generic term and said it was a pride of place thing -- the Coca-Cola company is headquartered in Atlanta.

It sounds weird to my Northern ears, but so do "sack" for bag (southern U.S.) and "loo" for bathroom (U.K.). Linguistic differences are fun!

It's a regional thing. Definitely a Texas thing, and it may extend further, I dunno. But around here, "coke" is understood to mean "carbonated beverage".

Me: Do you want a coke?Guest: Sure. What kind do you have?Me: Dr. Pepper & Sprite.Guest: Ok, I'll have a Sprite, please.

So actually, around these parts, it has become generic. And it was that way since I was a kid in the 60s so it's been a while. I realize it's not that way all over, and that's why I qualified the term in paretheses upthread.

Why not just say (general) you want a 'sprite' from the outset? When I want a particular soft drink I specify fanta/lemonade/pepsi/coke/ginger ale in the beginning.

Coke in the south is much like Q-tips are across the rest of America. You generally don't write "cotton swabs" on a grocery list you write "q-tips" Because it's become the new generic.

Down south coke is just the generic for soda. And it's a big part of southern culture. I've even heard orange soda referred to as "orange coke" which is kind of delightful.

Again though, the problem arises in that a cotton swab is a cotton swab is a cotton swab. Just to name a few.... Pepsi, Mountain Dew Code Red, ginger ale, root beer, cream soda, Sprite, orange soda, cherry soda, grape soda, and Mello Yello are all so completely different from one another that putting them all under the banner of "coke" would be like using the term "xerox" to mean copy, fax, telephone, intercom, email, text, IM, and VOIP.

You keep arguing against this as if there is some sort of objective rule about how language can be used. Language means what we want it to mean, changes how we decide to change it, and sometimes means wildly different things in different areas. That's just how it works.

Are you insisting this usage of 'coke' is incorrect in the hopes that you'll convince the entire south of the United States that their idiomatic usage of the word is improper and must be abandoned? You're probably not going to be terribly successful....

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, I'm just explaining why the rest of the soad-drinking nation finds it bizarre. Because other than carbonation, Coke and cream soda have nothing in common.

Oh you can get some pretty good wine for some pretty cheap prices. I almost never spend over $10 for a bottle and ~$6 bottles are not only plentiful but usually pretty good. I'm not much of a wine snob and I have opened a few bottles that were not so great, but for then again I might say the same thing if I averaged $30 or $50 a bottle.

Funny thing is, I don't drink coke. (And by coke, I mean carbonated beverages.) The only time I buy coke is when I'm having a party and I always feel it's overpriced.

Well, there's also the fact that alcohol tastes like floor cleaner to me... but mostly, I wanted to sound like a Vanilla Coke snob.

So you source your coke from a particular bottling plant "it was sealed on a cool morning, shipped in the fall to avoid excessive temperature fluctuations..."

While the above is meant facetiously, there *is* a premium price in the US (many markets) for Coca-Cola in glass bottles which was bottled in Mexico. For the rationale, I defer to Googled articles.

Sooooo, yeah, coke snobs exist, though I am not familiar with the Vanilla Coke sub genus - you may be a trend setter!

ETA: at below Wikipedia link for Mexican Coke, there is a taste test section which says: "In taste tests, tasters have noted that the Mexican Coke has "a more complex flavor with an ineffable spicy and herbal note", and that it contained something "that darkly hinted at root beer or old-fashioned sarsaparilla candies"..."

I am now going to be looking for an opportunity to observe that anything "darkly hints" at something.

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, I'm just explaining why the rest of the soad-drinking nation finds it bizarre. Because other than carbonation, Coke and cream soda have nothing in common.

And there are things you say that we find bizarre. I think that if you can accept Coca Cola and cream soda both belong in the general category of "soda/pop/soda water" or whatever, then you should be able to accept that in some regions, the term for that general category is "coke." It's not hard to understand for those who are around it. You use the category term and then you specify as needed. The Boston example upthread of "tonic" sounds much more bizarre to me than "coke"!

It's a regional thing. Definitely a Texas thing, and it may extend further, I dunno. But around here, "coke" is understood to mean "carbonated beverage".

Me: Do you want a coke?Guest: Sure. What kind do you have?Me: Dr. Pepper & Sprite.Guest: Ok, I'll have a Sprite, please.

So actually, around these parts, it has become generic. And it was that way since I was a kid in the 60s so it's been a while. I realize it's not that way all over, and that's why I qualified the term in paretheses upthread.

Why not just say (general) you want a 'sprite' from the outset? When I want a particular soft drink I specify fanta/lemonade/pepsi/coke/ginger ale in the beginning.

Coke in the south is much like Q-tips are across the rest of America. You generally don't write "cotton swabs" on a grocery list you write "q-tips" Because it's become the new generic.

Down south coke is just the generic for soda. And it's a big part of southern culture. I've even heard orange soda referred to as "orange coke" which is kind of delightful.

Again though, the problem arises in that a cotton swab is a cotton swab is a cotton swab. Just to name a few.... Pepsi, Mountain Dew Code Red, ginger ale, root beer, cream soda, Sprite, orange soda, cherry soda, grape soda, and Mello Yello are all so completely different from one another that putting them all under the banner of "coke" would be like using the term "xerox" to mean copy, fax, telephone, intercom, email, text, IM, and VOIP.

You keep arguing against this as if there is some sort of objective rule about how language can be used. Language means what we want it to mean, changes how we decide to change it, and sometimes means wildly different things in different areas. That's just how it works.

Are you insisting this usage of 'coke' is incorrect in the hopes that you'll convince the entire south of the United States that their idiomatic usage of the word is improper and must be abandoned? You're probably not going to be terribly successful....

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, I'm just explaining why the rest of the soad-drinking nation finds it bizarre. Because other than carbonation, Coke and cream soda have nothing in common.

Not all of the rest of soda drinking nation thinks it's bizzare. Didn't we have a thread on this a while ago?

It's a regional thing. Definitely a Texas thing, and it may extend further, I dunno. But around here, "coke" is understood to mean "carbonated beverage".

Me: Do you want a coke?Guest: Sure. What kind do you have?Me: Dr. Pepper & Sprite.Guest: Ok, I'll have a Sprite, please.

So actually, around these parts, it has become generic. And it was that way since I was a kid in the 60s so it's been a while. I realize it's not that way all over, and that's why I qualified the term in paretheses upthread.

Why not just say (general) you want a 'sprite' from the outset? When I want a particular soft drink I specify fanta/lemonade/pepsi/coke/ginger ale in the beginning.

Coke in the south is much like Q-tips are across the rest of America. You generally don't write "cotton swabs" on a grocery list you write "q-tips" Because it's become the new generic.

Down south coke is just the generic for soda. And it's a big part of southern culture. I've even heard orange soda referred to as "orange coke" which is kind of delightful.

Again though, the problem arises in that a cotton swab is a cotton swab is a cotton swab. Just to name a few.... Pepsi, Mountain Dew Code Red, ginger ale, root beer, cream soda, Sprite, orange soda, cherry soda, grape soda, and Mello Yello are all so completely different from one another that putting them all under the banner of "coke" would be like using the term "xerox" to mean copy, fax, telephone, intercom, email, text, IM, and VOIP.

You keep arguing against this as if there is some sort of objective rule about how language can be used. Language means what we want it to mean, changes how we decide to change it, and sometimes means wildly different things in different areas. That's just how it works.

Are you insisting this usage of 'coke' is incorrect in the hopes that you'll convince the entire south of the United States that their idiomatic usage of the word is improper and must be abandoned? You're probably not going to be terribly successful....

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, I'm just explaining why the rest of the soad-drinking nation finds it bizarre. Because other than carbonation, Coke and cream soda have nothing in common.

Not all of the rest of soda drinking nation thinks it's bizzare. Didn't we have a thread on this a while ago?

I'm not aware of anyone that doesn't use "coke" to mean "soda/pop/whatever" that doesn't think that those that do are a little bit strange, but that's my personal experience.